Spotlight: Family Ties
By Anonymous

“Tell us a story, Grandmamma! Tell us a story!” sang the small children in unison. All eyes were on an elderly woman with hair of snow and a smile the size of the moon. The woman was standing next to a worn out royal blue chair. The chair was once full of life, but now dull with age and wear. The woman was also worn, but not dull. In her eyes she had the fire of a woman in her prime, as it would be until her dying days. Slowly she sat down, for her body was frail. Once the woman was seated, she glanced down at the children with a look of amusement in her eyes. Her strong voice boomed,

“Now, do you really want to hear that story? You all have heard it a dozen times.”

All but one child yelled.

“Of course, Grandmamma, it's our favorite story!” A lone child watched the woman, silently.

The woman sighed and said, “Okay, children, gather round!”

As the children quickly circled the woman, they paid no attention to the silent child. She was a pale girl, who looked as though she had no happiness in her life. The woman began her story with great affection.

“When I was a child during the depression, my family would try to avoid the city life. We escaped to a small town in Rhode Island . There, my parents raised myself and my brother, who you know as Uncle Clyde.”

The woman paused, and then continued, “There, I made a best friend, as all you have done. Her name was Elena, and she lived next door. Elena and I went everywhere together, as many best friends do. One day, Elena and her family invited me to the county fair! I was very excited to go, and said yes instantly. There, we had the best time together, petting the chickens and other such animals. While Elena and I were browsing through the stalls, we saw the two most beautiful dresses. One had blue hibiscus flowers; the other had a mixture of colors and shapes.”

For a moment, the woman had tears welling in her eyes, and as soon as they came, the tears disappeared.

“We instantly fell in love with the dresses, Elena with the blue flowers and I with the odd dress. It was then that we decided that the dresses would be ours, at any cost. We quickly put our money together. We had 75 cents.” The children quickly looked at each other. 75 cents!? Why, that was nothing! The woman managed a small smile, and added,

“75 cents when I was a child is about 20 dollars now.”

The children breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the story to continue.

“When we walked up to the stall owner, he said that the dresses were 1 dollar 50 cents, which is about 40 dollars today. Well, that was twice as much as we could afford! Elena and I quickly asked Elena's mother, Rebecca, to buy us the dresses. After our question, Rebecca looked at the dresses, then us, then back to the dresses and quickly shook her head. ‘I'm sorry, we can't afford that, honey. We just can't.'”

The girls looked horror-stricken, the boys upset. The woman continued, “Elena and I were close to tears, but we dealt with the news and went to the rides. The very first ride that we went on was the big Ferris wheel. Elena, her younger brother, and I got on the ride. Soon our trio saw Elena's parents, smiling and waving. For a moment, everything was happy, but I quickly became sick and had to get off of the Ferris wheel. When we retrieved our bags from the parents, I dug into my bag for water. But,”

The woman stopped the story for effect, and looked at the children. Every one of them was mesmerized. The woman smiled and continued, “As I was saying, when I reached into the bag, my hand felt cloth. Since I was sick, I thought that I was delusional. After a minute passed, I stuck my hand into my bag, the cloth was still there. Excited, I asked Elena to look into my bag. Being reliable, she did. Elena shrieked, and I became even more exited. I quickly pulled out the cloth. It was the beautiful dress! My hands were shaking as I stroke the beautiful cloth. Elena was sobbing over the blue flowers.”

All the children had a smile on. “Elena screamed, and tore apart her bag. There was her dress, as though it had been waiting for her. The both of us were a sight to see, two young girls running around, screaming, and our arms flailing. Then, a thought struck me, ‘Where in the world had this dress come from?' I then started to interrogate Rebecca.”

There were blank faces all around the room. The woman laughed and said, “Interrogate means question. I started to question Rebecca. Luckily, Rebecca was a terrible liar. She confessed to the crime of buying our dresses. Both of us, Elena and I, hugged her. I didn't feel sick after that. In fact the group went and got ice cream. Nothing tasted as sweet.”

The woman's eyes were cloudy, as she was gazing into space. She quickly shook her thought off, it wasn't important. They children need not know about Elena, now the bookkeeper of the town. As the Children buzzed with excitement and happiness, the woman quickly added, “I still have that dress today. It isn't really mine, but it is my granddaughter's. It has been passed down from generation to generation.”

The boys and girls moaned. All they ever hear is about the woman's granddaughter, the amazing Jenna. Yet, no one has met her. Jenna was a mystery to all the boys and girls in the town, because everyone was envious of who her grandmother was. The woman got up, and clapped her hands and said, “Alright, everyone off! I've had enough for today! Come back tomorrow!”

As the children shuffled out of the room, a lone girl remained; she was the same pale girl who had no emotion. She got up from her cushion, and moved over to the old woman. A small voice came out of her mouth, “Grandma, that was embarrassing. I mean, gosh! Why did you have to mention the dress? Now the kids are all going to make fun of me!”

The girl wailed.

The woman smiled, and said, “Jenna, honey, don't worry. Now, let's go home. Besides, you do love the dress!”

As the girl and woman walked out of the small room in the library, there were several shared features between the two. The young girl was striking, her pale skin against a colorful dress, covered in odd patterns, wearing combat boots. The woman was slightly hunched over and talking quickly to the young girl. Both of them were connected through family and a sixty-nine year old dress.